Promoting mental health among young prisoners in Cambodia

INTERVENTION: We randomly selected four prisons out of 24 prisons in the country. The participating young prisoners in each prison were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups using an online randomization process (https://andrew.hedges.name/experiments/random/). All 412 participating young prisoners (both groups) received a stress‐reducing intervention session on breathing exercise. The intervention included a 45‐minute structured session to understand the stress of living away from families and being in prison, as well as how to rela Xusing simple breathing techniques. This session was implemented by two facilitators with more than 5 years of experience in conducting workshops on effective stress management. One week after the breathing technique sessions, the LSE programme was implemented in the intervention group over 6 consecutive weeks, each session lasting for approximately 90 minutes. The intervention group was divided into groups of 20 to 25 members to participate in each session. The following si Xmodules were applied in the same order to the young prisoners in the intervention group in all four prisons: ‘Coping with stress–facing challenges and problems,’ ‘Self‐awareness – Relationship‐dealing with anger,’ ‘Relationship‐peer pressure,’ ‘Relationship‐peer pressure – say ‘No’ to drugs and tobacco,’ ‘Self‐awareness‐self‐esteem,’ and ‘Self‐awareness‐coping with stress‐suicide.’ The LSE sessions were facilitated by the first author and a member of the research team, who both have more than 10 years of experience in implementing LSE programmes in Cambodia. The recommended WHO LSE programme was previously used in the Cambodian school setting and the two members of the present study were also part of the intervention CONDITION: Different types of mental health problems were assessed including anxiety/depression, withdrawal depression, somatic complaints, thought problems, social problems, rule‐breaking behaviour, aggression, and attention deficit ; Mental and Behavioural Disorders PRIMARY OUTCOME: ; 1. Mental health problems evaluated using the Youth Self‐Report scale at pre and post‐assessment; 2. Life skills competence measured using the Life Skills Development – Adolescent Form scale at pre and post‐assessment; SECONDARY OUTCOME: There are no secondary outcome measures INCLUSION CRITERIA: All young male prisoners from ages 15 to 24 in the four prisons who remained in the prisons for a minimum period of 6 months after the pre‐test